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The ride around the lake

I got to thinking about the ride around the lake the other day as we gear up for summer. It’s something I've done often in my life, especially when I was young and made the trip with my grandmother and great-grandmother on the occasional Sunday. Make no mistake: this was a big excursion. We'd pick my great-grandmother up at her house with the apple tree out front and she'd slowly walk to the car and get in the front seat with her wrinkled cotton dress and a little sweater folded over her arm. I remember that her ankles were often swollen and that I had this idea that she ...

There’s good, there’s bad, and there’s ugly

We’ve put ourselves in positions to be able to enjoy a variety of entertainment options in our retirement. As much as we don’t like cold winters (especially in recent years years), we’ve never had urges to be Snowbirds. We prefer to spread out our retirement activities/trips to cover much of the entire year. Since we’ve both been retired together (about five years), we’ve been able to enjoy a great number of indoor and outdoor concerts, we’ve seen a number of stage performances ranging from musicals, to dramas, to comedy-dramas, and more, on a variety of stages ranging ...

Decoration Day vs. Memorial Day

Last Monday, we celebrated what is now called Memorial Day, honoring those who gave their “last full measure of devotion” to our country and their fellow Americans, in battles fought by our country throughout history. After the day of this Celebration of Honor was declared a National Day of Celebration in 1868, the date to celebrate this day was established as the 30th of May, which happens to be today, and the original name for the Celebration of this sacrifice by so many, became Decoration Day. The beginning of the celebration of Decoration Day, came about after the Civil War ...

Making Summer Plans For 2026

What are you doing this summer? Around these parts, that question starts popping up almost immediately once the weather finally turns. And while some people are planning vacations, many others are looking forward to something far simpler — local concerts, festivals, fairs, lake events and all the traditions that make summer in Western New York feel like summer. The good news is there will be no shortage of things to do. Summer 2026 is already shaping up to be a busy one across Chautauqua County and New York State, with packed event calendars stretching from Memorial Day through ...

Other Voices: President Trump has lost the plot on governance

Republicans don’t want to say this publicly, but privately they do: President Trump’s personal political obsessions are hurting his Presidency, harming the chances for further policy gains the rest of this year, and putting control of the House and Senate in jeopardy. That’s the backdrop to the GOP revolt this week in Congress on war powers and funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Trump’s unrelated priorities are handing Democrats gift after gift and forcing Republicans to take difficult votes that could cost them in November. His desire for political revenge is ...

Other Voices: Trump’s Desire For Revenge Jeopardizes GOP Senate Control

President Trump proved again Saturday that he can crush Republican dissenters by helping to defeat Sen. Bill Cassidy in a Louisiana primary. The question is to what end? Mr. Cassidy earned Mr. Trump’s eternal enmity when he was one of seven GOP Senators who voted to convict him after he was impeached a second time in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. It was a vote of conscience for Mr. Cassidy, but fealty counts for more than principle in the Trump universe. Mr. Cassidy tried to earn back Mr. Trump’s support by overcoming the Senator’s misgivings and voting to confirm ...